Joker's Kin
by SAhfurhguer
Summary: Catherine Ivanov is kind of lonely, since she lost her father at four years old but, then she meets This guy named Richard who she really likes. She finds out who he is but can she ever figure out who she is? OCxDick Grayson
1. Chapter 1

I remember, even though I was little, I still remember him. He wasn't crazy then, well he might have been but he was good at hiding it. He wasn't married to my mother but he was still my father. I didn't have the life most little girls wanted or had. He still loved me, my mother still loved me as I loved them. It was just different. My parents argued when I was supposed to be asleep but they woke me up and I listened. My mother wanted him to stop being bad, to come and stay with us and be a good person, get a good job so I can go to a better school, so she could afford new clothes for me, not used ones. She wanted all this for me, but she didn't understand, I liked it this way, it felt at home. He said he earned money doing what he did; I was three or four so I don't remember exactly what it was that he did and I never understood totally.

I remember the good things though, I remembered when they weren't fighting, they were happy or at least acted happy when I was around. I remember when we used to go for walks, all three of us, in Gotham park. In the spring he would always say, "Let's go see what the bumblebees made" meaning, "Let's go see the flowers."

I had brown hair like he did, it was a light shade of brown, and green eyes. His skin was a light tan color as was mine. Although we had the same hair skin and eyes I looked mostly like my mother, slender, long legs, long arms and skinny fingers, it may sound weird but my mother is quite beautiful and she used to tell me all the time that I was (but she is my mother, she was supposed to do that). She had curly, light blonde hair too, my hair curled in spirals at the ends though, it wasn't as pretty as hers. My face was similar to hers, heart shaped. Her nose had a curvy slope, it looks actually quite adorable (Kind of creepy but it's true), and her lips were full like mine and they were curvy. I didn't think I looked so much like her but now that I look at myself in the mirror and I remember her, I see we look almost exactly alike.

When I was four, my father disappeared. My mother had no idea where he was and neither did I. When I was six, my mother remarried, she married a man named Jakob Ivanov, a middle class man with a Russian accent. I liked Jakob a lot, he would always play my favorite board games with me and Always called me "Catie Bug" because my name is Catherine and I always loved the lady bugs in the park. He was always good to my mom and I and I would call him Papa, because in Russian and in other languages that's how you said dad, he was like a dad to me. They did not have any more children other than me but I was never spoiled.

We were all happy together until December when I was twelve my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer; she had not noticed it before it got really bad. The doctors said she had maybe a year at the most to live; she died a year and a week later. Jakob and I were very sad, but Jakob never turned bitter, nor did I. I just became quiet.

Now I am twenty years old and I'm still shy. I work at a large library and that is where I am headed now. I dress kind of nice but casual, just a black skirt that goes down to just above my knees, a pair of short heeled black shoes and a light purple sweater over a white spaghetti strap top that reaches my waist. I wear no stocking or anything like that because it's summer and my skirt is long enough. I carry with me some books that I can add to a collection and nothing else.

"Good morning," I greet the librarian as I step inside. She waves to me a little and continues to work on her computer.

"I have some books I can add to the fiction section, the science fiction section and the encyclopedia section."

She stops to look at me, "Nice," she smiled, "Let me enter them into the computer and then you can put them away," I hand them to her and then I excuse myself to go help someone who looks like they are having trouble finding a book.

"Hi, do you need help finding anything?"

"No," he glanced at me giving me a friendly smile, "I'm just browsing, looking for a book for my friend, he's kind of sick so I'm giving him something to do."

"Okay," I smiled, "Let me know if you need anything." I stepped away and took the books I had earlier that the librarian already entered into the computer to put away. I headed to the encyclopedia section and looked at the title and I sighed, I would have to climb the ladder to put this one away. I didn't like the ladder; it was old, wooden and probably rotting. It had wheels; I told the librarian we should get a new one because it was a rolling death trap. She said we would but that was a few months ago, she probably forgot. I stepped onto the first step and climbed my way up to where I needed to be, I still couldn't reach so I had to take one more step. I brushed a strand of curly brown hair out of my face, probably because I was a little nervous and that's what I do when I'm nervous. I grabbed hold of my bangs to kind of calm myself and draw my attention away from the rickety wood ladder. After a few moments of this I lifted my leg to step up. I set it on the next step and pulled myself up to rest my other foot on it. Well, the wood must have been rotting and could only stand a few seconds of my weight because it split in two and I fell. I made a short, loud, frightened shriek as I descended towards the carpeted floor.

My head made contact with the hard (even though it is carpeted) floor and I landed on my side somehow. Sharp pain bolted through my right arm and I rolled over onto my back, groaning. I opened my eyes but my vision was blurry, probably from hitting my head, I was about seven or eight shelves up (the encyclopedia shelves are pretty tall so it's a big deal) when I fell. I heard voices but they were like echoes in my head that caused even more pain. I think it was the man from before, who knelt down next to me, he was telling maybe the librarian something. Oracle? Who was Oracle? He touched my right arm, right where it hurt and I cried out in pain.

Time seemed to go by faster because somehow I ended up in the hospital. I had a slight but not serious concussion and I've broken my arm, I should consider drinking whole milk. I didn't have many friends so when I woke up it was just the man and the Librarian and Jakob standing there.

"Thank you so much for bringing her here and calling me," Jakob still had a thick Russian accent that was recognizable anywhere. "Catie, are you alright?" He turned to me, noticing I was awake, it's funny I don't remember falling asleep.

"I'm fine Papa."

Jakob turned to the Librarian (okay, I should stop calling her that, her name is Barbara Gordon, and she's pretty nice, we like to go out sometimes together but we aren't that close because I'm more of a loner.) "What are your names by the way?" Oh papa, always trying to make new friends no matter what the situation.

Barbara blushed, introducing herself. The man introduced himself too, "Richard Grayson," he shook hands with Papa, which pleased the Russian man.

"Nurse!" Papa gestured for her to come over, "We would like to leave now, she as all set to go and ready." Of course I we had to sign something and pay a small bill for me getting taken care of but within half an hour we left with some pain medication for me. "Come, come please as a thankyou for helping my daughter, I will make Solyanka, Koltelty, and some Pirozhki!" all these are our favorite Russian foods. Papa would not take no for an answer and apparently, he had everything already made at home, all he needed was to heat them up.

While Papa was in the kitchen I apologized, "Sorry, he um, he gets too excited over everything." My face reddened and I looked down, I should not be ashamed of Papa.

"its fine," said Barbara, "I have a relative like that too."

"I don't think that relative likes me that much," Richard said, teasing though.

"No, she doesn't."

"What?" Richard was startled, "You're kidding."

"No, I'm not, I'm serious, she doesn't like you."

"Well I don't like her then!" Richard got over this fast though and turned to me, "Catherine, your father is actually a very friendly person, that's a good quality you don't find very often in people these days."

After that we ate and we said goodbye to Barbara and Richard. I had to sleep at Papa's house tonight because of my concussion. I wasn't going to but he insisted so I did.

About a month and a half later, I had a week off from work so I could visit a friend of mine in New York. Her name is Emily Grausse, she goes to college in the city. I never went to college because we never had enough money and I didn't want to go to the community college. Emily met me in the parking lot to her apartment building. We hugged and let each other know what we had been doing this past few months. I told her about my concussion and my arm but the cast I had on it was gone and my concussion was only minor.

"Wow, was the guy cute?"

"I told you I got a concussion and all you think about was if the guy who brought me to the hospital was cute?"

"Well was he?"

I blushed, "Kind of." Emily laughed and turned over on her back, we were in her bedroom, sitting on the bed doing the same thing we would always do when we were teens, talk, listen to music and brush each other's hair. It was around midnight. Getting up and flipping her blonde hair she told me, "I want to go for a walk."

"But it's the middle of the night and I'm not wearing walking clothes, neither are you," I pointed to her pink zebra pajama pants and she shrugged, he blue eyes smiled, "Let's put on some walking clothes." She strode over to her closet, pulling out two pairs of jeans that were kind of "Sexy" and she pulled out two "Sexy" shirts but they covered everything but one shoulder. "You're going to wear that?"

"So are you."

"No I'm not," I pulled out a t-shirt from my bag and some safe jeans and a pair of sneakers.

"Ugh, fine!" And she put on something similar to what I was wearing. I grabbed a sweater because it was chilly, September usually is. My t-shirt was a light blue and my sweater was a greenish color, my shoes were black. I confirmed to myself I looked totally safe and so did Emily who looked almost the same. I combed my Brown hair a little because I was nervous, I always am at night.

"Come on!" Emily grabbed my hand and we giggled like we always did in high school when we were doing something that wasn't commonly done but it was New York, there are traffic jams 24/7 and people walk the streets 24/7. With that bit of information, I felt a little bit better.

We walked for about forty-five minutes when we came to a bar with bikes out in the front. "Ooh, scary!" Emily, cooed, jumping for the door, I pulled her back, holding her by the arm.

"No! You don't know what kind of people are in there!" She gave me a Duh look with her eyes and gestured to the motorcycles behind us.

"Bikers."

"But still, Em!" I tried to pull her back but she twisted out of my grip.

"Come on; stop being a wimp, Catie!" She opened the door and two biker men came out. They both had large muscles but one of them, who looked to be about thirty had muscles bigger than my head. The other, about our age had more hair on his head that was black, he had a nose ring and an earring. They both had tattoos that made them look entirely hideous.

"Catie," The younger one said, staring at me with beady rat eyes, "That's a pretty name." He stepped forward but Emily pushed him in the chest, making him step back.

"No way," she said, she was scared too but not as much as me, I was shaking in my boots, wishing I was at home, sleeping dreaming about ponies and rainbows and butterflies! Unfortunately I wasn't I was here, in front of two, ugly bikers who could probably eat me for breakfast and still be hungry. I was on the verge of tears I was so terrified.

"Em," I managed to squeak her name out, trying to get her to pull away. The bigger guy grabbed her and held her by the arms, backwards. Oh no, we really shouldn't have come here. The one that told me my name was nice stepped toward me again, he was wearing all leather, leather pants, boots and a leather vest that was open to show his bare, tattooed chest. I wanted to scream I wanted to run but I was glued to this place. My muscles were tight and they refused to make any movement whatsoever except for my arms, hugging myself as I shivered.

"I can smell fear, you know." Oh no! He's half wasp too! "It has a sweet smell and it comes off you like a perfume." He inhaled the air around me and put his close to mine. All I could smell was tobacco. He put his hand around my mouth and dragged me to the side of the building, I struggled and fought but he was too strong and my screams were muffled by his big, nasty hand. The other guy had Emily but she was taken behind to the other side of the building. I was told he was taking me behind it. He threw me onto the concrete and I balled up, covering my head, bringing my knees up to my chest and I would not move. I heard the man grunt a few times but I ignored him, I was too busy sobbing my eyes out.

"You bastard!" the man groaned, probably in pain, I heard Emily run around the corner.

"Oh my gosh, thank you!" and she said "Catherine, Come on!" wanting me to move but I would not.

"Go ahead, I'll take care of her, I'll get her home." A voice, kind of familiar to me, told Emily. I heard her rapid footsteps continue after that. I felt him kneel next to me; I was still curled up in fear. He put his hand on my shoulder, "Are you alright?"

I looked up and dried my eyes; he looked surprised, he probably didn't know I was crying, then again it was impossible not to have known, I cried in a loud wail. "I'm… okay." I was surprised at what I saw and my eyes widened, "You're that guy that used to work in Gotham, with Batman, aren't you, Robin?"

He smiled, "It's Nightwing now actually."

"Oh, cool."

"Have you ever been to Gotham?"

"Actually, I live there, I work at a library."

"Cool." He helped me stand and took me to Emily's Apartment.

"Thanks," I said. It was kind of stupid but oh well.

"Any time." He left through the window.

"That was freaky!" Emily relayed all the detail even though I had been there.

"I just want to go to bed."

The next morning, we woke and went to get coffee at a coffee shop a few blocks away. It was about eight AM when we got there. We ordered our coffee and were headed to the park. While Emily was getting her drink though I stepped outside to wait to make the room a little less crowded. I wasn't really paying attention so I didn't notice the person until I ran into him, the top on my Styrofoam cup popped off and hot liquid splashed on us both. "I'm so sorry! I'm so stupid!" I told him, taking napkins out of my pocket and handing them to him, never mind the fact that I was wearing a white shirt that got see-through when wet.

"Oh no it's fine." His voice, I've heard it somewhere before I just couldn't put my finger on it. He was examining his shirt, dabbing at the wetness. It was a dress shirt and he was wearing a tie, probably on his way to work. "I can go home and change." He looked up at me and I recognized him.

"Oh hey! I remember, in Gotham I was at the library, I fell and you took me to the Hospital, Richard, Right?"

"Yeah, I remember, how's your head and your arm?"

"Good, my elbow making a cracking noise sometimes." We laughed at this.

"How's your dad?"

"Great, still loves his Russian soup." He grinned at this.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, Catherine, maybe we could get together sometime?" Emily stepped out of the shop but looked at me, my shirt and Richard and then stepped back indoors.

"That sounds nice, what time?"

"Is today at twelve sound good? At the park maybe?"

"Yeah sure!" I forgot all about Emily at the moment.

"Nice, see you there! I have to go home now and change." He headed back the way he came and waved goodbye.

Emily came back outside and once he was out of earshot she started rambling. "Oh my gosh, did he just ask you out!"

"Kind of, I don't know.

"Well did he want to go somewhere?"

"Yeah, the park, at twelve, he was the guy that took me to the hospital when I fell off the ladder."

"Really? Oh that is so romantic! He saves you, then he disappears and he finds you again! When are you going?"

"Today, at twelve." Emily squealed with excitement.

"You absolutely HAVE to go! Let's go to my place and get you dressed up!"

"Em, it's not fancy stuff."

"I know that, it'll be casual." She dragged me back to her apartment.

"Here," she handed me a yellow shirt, I opened it and it was a V-neck tank top. Next she pulled out a navy blue skirt with pleats that came down to an inch above my knees and some comfortable white shoes that slipped on but they looked nice with skirts. She had me wear my silver chain around my neck. My hair which was tied in a ponytail was taken out of the hair tie and brushed, so that it was down. My natural curls were still there. Over my shirt I wore a Navy blue sweater

"All done," she said with satisfaction, I wore no makeup but my clothes were things I wouldn't normally wear, I'm a bit self conscious.

An hour later, Emily spent so much time picking out clothes for me time flew by. I arrived at the park with a brown bag around my shoulder; I pulled a book out of the bag and sat on a bench, reading while I waited for him. Ten minutes later I heard him approach.

"What are you reading?" He sat next to me, his clothes were more casual, he now wore a white t-shirt with a dark denim jacket and a pair of dark denim jeans with sneakers.

"Bram Stoker's Dracula," I replied, closing it and putting it away. "You look nice; denim is a nice look for you."

He ran his fingers through his short, dark brown hair and looked me over with his dark brown eyes. He had pale skin, kind of like my mother and he was nicely and evenly muscled, not like the freaks Emily and I met last night, he was more like Nightwing. "I wish I would have dressed a little nicer, I feel out of place."

"No it's fine, I like it." He seemed extremely pleased to hear this and stood.

"Want to walk?"

"That sounds like a great idea." We walked kind of close, beside each other. "How is your friend, from Gotham? The one that was sick?"

He looked at me, "Oh, he's fine, it was just a flu I guess, he's back on his feet now, to tell the truth I thought it was really bad," He sighed, "it wasn't really a friend of mine. Well I was, but a different kind, he adopted me when my parents died."

"Oh, well, I'm glad he's okay then," I really didn't know what to say about his parents though. For some reason though a bit of sadness crept through me, my dad, my real dad, Jack Napier, I remembered him.

"So, Miss Ivanov, how is your dad?"

"He's fine; he's not really my dad though, not by blood."

"That's something we have in common."

"Yeah, my real dad died when I was a little girl."

"Oh, I'm sorry, don't tell me anything else if you don't want to."

"No it's fine, I only remember a little bit, it happened when I was four, sixteen years ago. It doesn't make me that sad when I talk about it."

"Okay, did you change your name to Ivanov when your mother remarried?"

"Yeah, my name used to be Napier."

He paused, "What was your father's first name, do you know?"

"Jack, why?"

"I was just wondering," he sounded a little troubled but he soon regained his calm voice.

"He would always take my mother and I for walks in the Gotham Park like this, it was because I liked the flowers." I laughed a little. "Let's talk about something a little happier, shall we?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, did you like in Gotham all the time?"

"No, I traveled a lot with my parents but when they died in Gotham, Bruce Wayne, adopted me when I was ten and I lived there until I was eighteen. After that I moved here."

"Cool, I've lived in Gotham my entire life, but we lived in a small apartment at first, then when my mother met my Step-dad they married and she got a job and so did he. I was sent to a better school and we lived in a bigger apartment where we couldn't hear the neighbors trying to kill each other through the walls."

"Kill each other?"

"Well, not exactly, we lived next door to a couple who didn't get along anymore and they threatened each other's lives all the time, it was not a pleasant experience."

"I guess not."

After that we spent a few hours in the park just talking about each other, getting to know each other. He asked me out again for tomorrow and I accepted, he gave me his phone number and I gave him mine. He walked me to Emily's apartment and I told her about our dart and how he asked me out on another one, she wanted me to go on every single one he asked me to. We actually ended up going to the park every day at twelve until I left to go back to Gotham. He told me he would call, I just hope he does.


	2. Chapter 2

JK chapter 2

Gotham city has some pretty harsh winters and it's even worse when you don't own a car and you have to walk to work. I got a new job actually, I work as a secretary in a middle school. It sounds rediculous but I get paid more and more money means a better way to pay the apartment rent. I have on a black skirt, a thick, light blue argyle sweater with a v-neck and my hair down. Around my neck is a silver chain. On my feet I wear black, heeled ankle boots and I have warm leggins so that I don't freeze in the cold snow.

"Good morning Miss Ivanov!" an eighth grade girl by the name of Gillian greeted me as I walked through the door. She comes into the office every morning to drop off the class attendance and she greets me kindly. I was running late this morning that's why she was here before me.

"Good morning Gillian, going to homeroom now?" I set my purse down on my desk and shook out of my black winter coat.

"Yeah, have a good day now!"

"You too sweetie!" You see this school is good enough so the teachers can call the student's that (not too often though).

"Oh Catherine," The Principal stopped by my desk, "Make sure to enter in a new student's name intot he computer." I was givent he name of the student and I did was I was told. My work day lasts until eight AM to four PM and at the time I was supposed to leave, I left, I didn't want the night to get any colder. As I stepped into my apartment the phone rang, I supposed it was Papa, wanting me to do something this weekend so I answered. "Hello Papa."

"Um, Catherine?"

I realized it wasn't my step-dad, "Oh hi Richard, sorry I thought you were my dad before I picked up the phone." Richard and I have been dating for a year now.

"Haha, that's fine, just wanted to let you know that I'm visiting bruce this weekend and was wondering if we could do something? Maybe go somewhere?"

"Oh yeah that's fine, maybe we could go over to Papa's house if that's okay with you?"

"Sounds great, I'll see you tomorrow or something, love you babe."

"Love you." We said goodbye and hung up. New york isn't that far from here, only an hour and a half maybe. Richard and I visit eachother all the time. I pulled myself together and got out of my work clothes into my warm pajamas, I wasn't planning on going out anyways. I made myself a small dinner and after I did that I curled up on the couch with a good book by my favorite author. I sat reading for about ten minutes when I got a knock at my door. I got up to answer but a slip of paper was slid under it. It was strange actually, so I opened the door to see if someone was there but nobody was. I closed it and bent to lift the paper off my carpet. It was folded like a letter, in thirds, I unfolded it and inside there were big, differently shaped letters, none of which were a person's handwriting.

"_Find the object that I speak of_

_You may lie below or sleep above._

_And p.s. my pretty, I'm coming to get you_

_AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO!"_

I didn't have a dog and to be honest, I don't know why but I decided to do it, to solve the riddle, I should have been terrified but I wasn't.

"I may lie below or sleep above?" I didn't understand this, what was this? A game? Well since it said sleep I went into the bedroom to see if there was anything there. "Below or above?" What do I sleep below of? I don't know, anything hanging from the ceiling or on the walls maybe. I looked at the ceiling and noticed my ceiling lamp, maybe it meant a lamp, because my bedside table has a small one and it's shorter than my bed. I strode over to my bed and lifted the lamp, under it was a small slip of paper, I opened it.

"_That one was easy _

_And much too cheesy_

_Now you have to look out to the city_

_Look for a pity _

_who has no wit_

_he will have the answer to this bit"_

This one was harder, what did he mean by a pity? Well a pity who has no wit, would be someone who is shameful maybe and isn't smart, pity might be sad though so maybe someone who isn't that smart and something sad happened to them? I got on my coat and some boots and I gravbbed a hat and gloves to keep warm while I was out in the snow. I made my way down the steps to the front of the apartment and I stepped out of the door into the cool winter air.

Something sad, maybe they ran away? Maybe they got their home taken away? It was dark already and the snow was falling, I trudged through the snow for five blocks before anything happened. My hair was cold and wet from snow falling on me and it got in my coat and slithered down my back, chilling my spine. I bumped into a large person because I was looking down, only paying attention to my body heat.

"What are you doing out here?" The voice was deep and sounded a bit angry. I looked up to see a largely muscled man in a suit and not just any suit, a bat suit.

"B-Batman?" my teeth were hcattering and I stammered because of it.

"I asked you what you were doing."

"Oh come on Batman don't be so hard on her," That voice, I knew it it was so familiar but I don't know how! I turned my head slightly to see him, Nightwing, he kind of looked a little more familiar than he did when I first saw him but in a different way, like I knew him. "Hey, you must be freezing, what are you doing out in the cold?"

I reached in, my pocket for the first riddle, "I d-don't know who it'ssss f-from." I replied handing it to him. He read it over.

Repeating the last line, "I'm coming to get you my pretty and your little dog too? Yeah this person can't think up their own lines can they? It doesn't really make sense either you don't have a dog."

"How did you know that?" Before Nightwing could answer, Batman took the slip of paper from him and read it.

"Did you get any more of these? They obviously know where you live and it wont be safe for you to go back home, is there anywhere else where you can go?"

"M-my Papa's house, that's it all my friends moved away for c-college."

"It wont be safe for you to go to a relative's house either, they know you and they know who you are related to also, in most cases that's what happens and to top it all off, this is the lettering of the Riddler, he used it for many riddles he sent me."

"W-what? Is he g-going to k-kil me?"

"Not tonight."

"That makes me feel better." I said this Sarcastically because really, I didn't. If I couldn't go to Papa's house, where could I go? I didn't have time to answer this myself because Batman must have signaled to Nightwing or something because he picked me up and put me in the batmobile, which was just around the corner. He squeezed in next to me so that I was sitting against what in a normal car, would be the door.

"Tak off your jacket, it's soaked." I obeyed and he helped me shake out of it. His fingers brushed my arms and I got this serious sense of deja-vu. I gasped in surprise.

"Richard!" I looked at him and he stared at me, his jaw dropped. He quickly pulled himself together and shook his head.

"Don't worry, you're probably just seeing things from being too cold, here," He took off my hat and helped my frozen fingers out of my gloves, they were pink from being too cold and wet. No, he was Richard, I could feel it, the same touch, the same shape of his face, the same warm skin. It was Richard but I didn't push too far, I didn't want him to get angry. His hair, though shaped differently is the same shade as Richard's dark brown (almost black) hair and through his mask I could see, beautiful amber eyes the same color as my boyfriends. We sat in silence, and he warmed me by putting his arm around me. It felt the same way as it did when Richard put his arm around me. My thoughts wandered back to what he said earlier, "_you don't have a dog."_ How could Nightwing know that?

"How did you know I didn't have a dog?"

He turned his head towards me, our faces close in the crampt car, "What?"

"How did you know that I didn't have a dog?"

"Uuh, a Hero has to know this stuff?"

"Tell the truth, please."

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Please?" I looked at him and my face probably resembled the innocence of a brown haired cat with green eyes.

"Catherine, please don't."

I lowered my head and looked through my light brown bangs, "Sorry I didn't mean to—."

"No, it's okay," He put his finger under my chin and lifted it to his, we both were momentarily silent and still. We stared in each other's eyes until he tilted his head a little and leaned forward and inch so that his lips met mine. I felt like I've kissed him before but if he really was a different person, if I told Richard, what would he say? No matter how much I enjoyed the sweet, passionate kiss I had to cut it off.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that, I have a boyfriend and I," I sighed, "I don't know what I was doing, I'm sorry I have to go."

"Where will you go? For some reason Riddler's interested in you." He wouldn't let me leave this car, besides I wouldn't be able to, Batman was coming. He climbed in and took the other seat and shut the door.

"Hold on," Batman said to me as he turned the car on. Its engine roared and it started to move. At first it was normal anhd then it sped up and up until it was going demonically fast. I almost screamed, I wanted to scream but I didn't, all I did was clutch to Nightwing like a big baby wimp. We stopped five minutes later and Batman Had us get out. I emerged from the car and was lifted out of the Batmobile and onto metal. I looked around me and realized, I was in the Batcave. I didn't want to stay, I wanted to go home and curl up in bed for I don't know, maybe forever.

My legs were wobbly and it was hard to walk, I grabbed my coat, now dry from the heat in the batcar. I took my hat and my gloves and put them in my coat pockets. My hair was still a little damp and I was still shivering. Batman and Nightwing went up some metal stairs and stopped at a huge computer.

"We have to find the prints to make sure that this is the Riddler and not someone else." Batman started typing something in with the Riddles I had placed on this thing that was scanning them. "Six fingerprints found, five sets are yours, and the other one is confirmed, Edward Nygma, otherwise known as the Riddler."

"Wow," That was weird, why was he after me?

"Do you have any idea why he's after you, Catherine?" Nightwing asked.

"I have no clue, I've never even met him or anyone like him," a large picture of him appeared ont eh screen.

"What's strange is," Batman said, his voice full of thought, "He left his fingerprints, I remember the Riddler is always more careful than this, it's like he wanted us to know." Batman looked at me, "He was probably going to kill you if he was this careless."

"Oh boy that makes me feel so good."

"It's okay Catherine, we'll keep you safe, do you have anyone at all who you can stay with? They can be in a different city too. "

I thought for a second, "My friend in New York or my Boyfriend, he lives in New York too."

"Call him," Batman ordered handing me a small phone.

"Wait!" Nightwing took Batman to the side to whisper something to him.

"Call your friend, Catherine," So he changed his mind? Okay, this only deepens my suspicion that Richard _is _Nightwing.

I dialed Emily's number, it wasn't my phone so I could understand her bitter answer. "What the hell do you want I'm trying to sleep!"

"Em?"

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Catie, look something came up, I can't explain it but can I stay with you for…" I paused and looked at Batman, "A few days."

"What's wrong Catie? Seriously I'll kick anybody's ass for you, Oh no, Did Richard break up with you?" Emily Started to shout, "I'LL TEAR HIS BALLS OFF! I'M TELLING YOU I'M GOING TO WEAR RICHARD'S INTESTINES AS A BELT AND I'LL STICK MY FOOT UP HIS ASS SO FAR HE'LL CHOKE ON IT!"

"Em calm down!" It was strange, she knew Batman and Nightwing heard the whole thing but Nightwing got a look of horror on his face. "We didn't break up."

"Oh… yeah sure start heading over whenever okay?"

"Okay, Em, I'll see you in a little while." I hung up and Handed the phone back to Batman and he cleared his throat.

"Well, your friend certainly has some creative ideas of what to do if your lover ever breaks your heart, that's a good quality."

"Yeah that's Emily, my best friend forever," I smiled a little but it was weak, I was tired now and with every blink my lids felt heavier.

"Nightwing, take her to New York, make sure she gets there safely."

"No problem," Nightwing took my hand and led me somewhere a little bit past the Batmobile. There was a black and cyan colored motorcycle with a single black helmet sitting on the seat. "Put this on," he handed me the helmet and I put it overmy head and buttoned my coat. I got on the bike after him, sitting behind him and wrapping my arms around his middle so that I wouldn't fall off. His bike didn't go nearly as fast as the Batmobile but it was pretty fast, we go to New York city within three hours I should say.

Emily sprinted out of her apartment building as soon as we pulled up and she tackled me in a giant hug.

"Catie!" She squealed, "You're here you can sleep over and eat pizza with me!"

"Hey Em." Emily turned to Nightwing and then looked at me.

"Come in whenever you're ready Catie." I nodded and she left to go inside.

"Stay safe alright Catherine?"

"Quit it, I know you know that I know."

"What?"

"You're Richard Grayson, twenty-three years old, you live in New York city, I know you are."

Nightwing sighed deeply and heavily, leaning against his bike, "How'd you find out?

"Easy. You didn't do anything to change your voice, you feel the same way you do without the Nightwing suit on because you are the same person, you came to Gotham the same day you called to tell me you were AND you kissed me and didn't seem at all ashamed or offended that I had a boyfriend because you _are _my boyfriend. Also, you were careless, you see Nightwing didn't know me but Richard did, you knew I didn't have a dog and you said I didn't, that was something only somebody I knew, would know."

"that was kind of easy wasn't it?" I nodded and he ran a hand through his dark hair, "okay look, you can't tell anybody you got it? Nobody."

"Trust me, you don't even have to tell me not to tell." He leaned forward and we kissed again and this time I didn't break it off.

"You can come stay with me tomorrow." His chin was rested on my head as I rested my head on his chest. He was warm.

"I'll tell Emily I'm staying over then."

…

Richard's POV

Two days after that, in the morning I woke up with my arm around Catherine's waist. I felt great, last night wasw the best night of my life, because I was with Catherine and we did some fun stuff last night. It started out like a regular night, we were just watching a movie in my apartment and then we stopped paying attention to the movie and we started kissing. After that our kisses began to get hungry for something. Before we knew it we were in the bedroom peeling clothes off, once we started there wasn;t any going back and we started with no protection and ended with no protection. Now as I lay in bed I'm in my boxer shorts (they're cool they have boats on them) and she was wearing the t-shirt I had on last night along with her underwear, the top part of her underwear somehow ended up all the way across the room.

I stared at my sleeping girlfriend, will she be mad at me for not putting on protection? I don't know, well Even though we did "do it" doesn't mean I don't love her now. No, I still love her, I still love her more than anything. I'll do anything for her but something is nagging at me in the back of my head whenever I'm with her, it's something I know I shouldn't have forgotten I kind of remembered the theme of it, I think it invloved her dad, her biological father, who was he again?


	3. Chapter 3

JK CHPTR 3

Bruce Wayne's POV

"Alfred, you remember the address right?"

"Yes, Master Bruce I do."

"Good, please go there, Dick asked me to meet him there."

"Yes Master Bruce." Alfred turned the black car they were in around a corner and drove straight for five minutes until he stopped and haulted the engine. He got out of the driver's seat to pull open my door, I could have done it myself but my arms from last night were a little sore. They don't usually get that way anymore because of how much I work out but I had to fight Bane, he puts up more of a fight than anyone else.

We were in front of an apartment building ina part of town that's maybe middle class, much cheaper than where I live I can tell you that. Outside the building on a bench I spotted Dick, his arm was around a brown haired girl with light skin. She was rather attractive and looked almost familiar to me in a way that I couldn't explain. I've never met a woman who looked like her but I don't know, something in the eyes. I strode over to them and saw that her eyes were green, wait a second, I've met her before while I was in the bat-suit.

Catherine. That was her name, yes, this is Dick's grilfriend I've been hearing so much about.

meeting her while not being batman so I had to be careful. "This is my girlfriend, Catherine, and Catherine this is Bruce Wayne."

"Hello, it's very nice to meet you," Catherine was very friendly and stuck out her hand to shake, I took it but I kissed it as a formal greeting I use for women.

"It's very nice to meet you, Catherine." She smiled and took her hand back, kind of uncomfortable, probably because I did that right in front of her boyfriend. We spent time getting to know eachother. Her eyes I noticed were a nice green color and I was right, they did look familiar, the color was bright and on her they sparkled. However nice her eyes looked I couldn't help but get a haunting feeling like I knew them from somewhere else, but who?

OOOOO

That night I had a nightmare, it was the same one I've had ever since my parents were killed and in the dream the same man appears. I know this man, he's sadistic and mad. His chalk white skin makes me want to vomit as his rediculous grin makes me want to kill him. And then I see them, those taunting eyes, mocking me. Those bright… green… eyes. During my dream an image flashed, Catherine and her eyes, then I realized I did in fact know those eyes, they were the same eyes as…

I woke with a start, sweaty and pale. My skin was cold and I remembered everything from my nightmare, her eyes, Catherine's eyes they were the same ones as, "Joker." I whispered aloud. The name echoed around in my head, teasing me, was she related to him?

OOOO

Catherine's POV

We were in my apartment, on my couch as he kissed me. I had my legs thrown over his and my arms around his neck while Richard had his hands around my waist. I didn't know how we ended up like this, we were just kissing. We were deep into it, enjoying each other when… gah! His Phone rang.

Richard groaned and reached onto the table next to the couch, retrieving his phone. "Bruce," he said, "I've gotta take this one."

"Okay," I said, but it was still quite annoying to me that right in the middle of what we were doing Bruce called. It was like I don't know, two in the morning? He was probably still sleeping **(You see, Catherine does not know Bruce is Batman, she thinks that Dick has a friend who is Batman I love twists… even though this isn't actually a twist but if you want to argue with me I have to ask you something: What's it like being a virgin at your age, interesting? Okay, moving on.)**.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, Bruce." Richard sounded kind of angry and he glanced at me, "I'm going out in the hallway for a few minutes babe," he whispered taking the phone a few inches away from his ear, I nodded and he walked out the door, continuing his conversation. "You were probably just dreaming… No! I will not do that for you… okay, so you've had this nightmare for how long now? Since you were a kid, right? Just because someone has the same eye color as his doesn't mean that they're related in any way… Oh the same eye shape too, huh? Well that makes it all different… I don't care if the skin shade is exactly the same before he became what he is, it can't prove anything! Goodbye, Bruce, go back to sleep, I'm done talkiing." Richard came back inside and stared somewhat angrily at his phone. He tossed it aside and sat back on the couch with me.

OOOOOO

Bruce's POV

Dammit! He didn't believe me, but I was right, Right now I had a photo of him on my computer in the batcave. Next to it, Catherine's ID photo from her middle school staff card, it was a copy. I used my technology to enlarge it and I proceeded to scan both of their iris patterns. They were similar, of course hers are a little different from her other parent, her mother. The eye color, exactly the same, similar eye shapes, wide set ones. Her skin color, is a little lighter but is very similar to how he used to look. I am confident that this is the daughter of my worst enemy. The most dangerous and sadistically minded villain I have ever faced, Joker. Was this another way to get to me? Did he know Nightwing's identity? He probably did that smart ass bastard. I will protect my friends and my family at all costs, but first, I have to figure out, is this one of his plans or does she really have no clue?

OOOOOOO

Joker's POV

"Harley! I believe that tonight, I'll have a friend over for dinner, hmm," I thought for a moment and then the perfect person came to mind, "How about two? Nightwing is in town so let's invite him over along with ol' Batsy."

"Sounds good hun!" Harley did an acrobatic front flip into our "Living Room" (we had taken up residence in an old building that was used for manufacturing children's toothpaste, it was found out later that poison, in the toothpaste was seeping into all the little bastard's gums and killing them from the inside HA! Best plan ever.) "I'll start makin' dinner, Mr. J!" She pulled out a heavy duty gun that would blow a hole in Godzilla's belly and shoot right out of his back, getting all of his giant lizard dinosaur guts everywhere, all over the city.

"Oh Harley!" I grinned, the scars on my face making my smile even wider, you see I have these scars that look like a big smile, even when I am not happy, I look like a Joker so I dyed my hair green and wear white and red face paint wherever I go.

"What is it Mr. J?" She asked, turning to me.

"I won't be needed you tonight darling, but before you leave," I stepped closer to her, she looked disappointed. I was three inches away from her face, acting as if I was going to kiss her, I pulled a sharp knife out from my messy purple suit jacket, "Let's put a smile on that face." I grabbed her by the neck and I made her smile, she grinned, a big red smile from ear to ear. She lay now, on the floor in a nice dark puddle of smile juice.

HA! You actually thought I killed her, I was thinking about it, oh you can't imagine how much I would just love to see her beautiful skin spread out like one of those polar bear rugs, it would make the best punch line for one of the most genius jokes I could ever imagine but no, I sent her to give the invitation to old Bat's tonight, right now, it's about six AM, I want some sleep. Oh today is no ordinary day though, I remember this day well from seventeen years ago when my daughter was four. It was the day I left because my genius sense of humor finally got to me, I always wanted to have a smile on my face, so I made one myself! I wonder, does she have a boyfriend? If they ever get married I will certainly be there to greet her. I can see it now, the big punch line for the longest running joke, "Hey Sweetie, daddy's not really dead, he just had to run a few errands and crack a few jokes, he was even pestered by a Freak in a rubber bat costume while he ran around with a kidnapped little boy wearing tights, but it's all fine now because I'm here!"

I rubbed my messy, greasy green hair out of my face, my makeup was smearing but I didn't care, neatness with makeup wasn't my thing, heck I just got some red on my fingers this morning and wiped it across my mouth, no big deal really. Harley was leaving now, she was going to lure that little rodent and his dark feathered friend right into my trap.

OOOOOOOO

Harley Quinn's POV

"Where are ya Bats?" I called into the day (but it was still kind of dark for morning, winter time is always the darkest), perched atop a building, one that Batman had fought that cat lady on. My queens accent was thick and reminded me of when I was a little girl, all the drivers on my street would yell at each other in their angry voices. "Boy, you guys must be stupid, I just destroyed a whole truck for ya and you repay me with sayin' nothing? That ain't too nice Bats. What about you, Birdie boy?" I was referring to Nightwing, "Where are you?"

"You should check behind your back, Harley Quinn," A younger man's voice, not Batman's said, obviously coming from behind me, I turned and ducked, dodging a kick to my face, and then carwheeled out of his way while he lunged.

"Oh it's you, Birdie, it's nice to see ya!" He tried to punch me, he was moving quite fast too, always trying to punch me with one hand and then bring around the other, I was lucky, I was moving faster and I was flexible so I could dodge both of his hits. I must have hit something or tripped over my own foot because I lost my balance for a second and he got me in the mouth. After that happened he was going to grab me, probably to hold me down as long as he could or until Batman came, I flipped backwards to avoid this and then rolled sideways and he made a jump, trying to land feet first for me.

"You're still the same, Quinn, always dodging but never hitting."

"I wouldn't say that too soon Honey Bird!" I flipped forward, shifting my weight to my hands, putting them on the ground and then I brought my feetback in front of me on the ground, I repeated this quickly and swiftly until I was right next to him. The last time I was to bring my feet to the ground I dropped my whole self to it until I was standing on my hands still, upright but my feet were out in front of me, hooked around his legs to bring him to the ground. I pushed off the ground, going just a few feet in the air, landing on his side with my elbows, aiming to crack a few ribs. I may have bruised him but that wasn't enough, I kneed him where it hurt the most, but it didn't seem to bother him too much, he must have been wearing something. It did cause him a little pain though and that momentarily distracted him so, I had room to hop up on my feet, and kick him in the chest, and then do a wrestling move, hell, I even screamed the name, "POWER BOMB!" Surprise filled his eyes as I lifted him with strength I only knew when I had adrenaline coursing through my veins. I lifted him up high, and then I dropped him to the ground as hard as I could, he struggled as I had him in the air but just my luck, when he hit the ground he didn't move at all, he must have smacked him head on the concrete.

I was so enthralled in my victory that I hadn't noticed Batsy come up behind me, grab me around the mouth and start to suffocate me a little. I had my hands pulling on his muscular arms but he was too much. I could feel myself weaken as the air escaped my lungs but wouldn't come back. He let go of me, but still held me by my arms tightly, "Where is the Joker, Quinn?" He demanded. I refused to tell him and he proceeded to squeeze the air out of me. I remembered for some reason that Mr. J was telling me, he had a kid, She lived somewhere in Gotham, maybe he wants to find her, maybe he wants her to kill this Batty nut.

I managed to let out a few breathless words, "Mr. J won't like it if you don't help him find his kid, Bats!"

He held me by the arms again, "What are you talking about?"

I caught my breath before I spoke, "Mr. J has someone he's lookin' for and when he finds her, he might want you to meet her, Ya see, Mr. J had one little girl a long time ago and he wants to see her again, he needs your help." I turned so I could see him, "Will ya help him, Bats?"

He was silent before he answered, it was just a single word, easily spoken, "No," was his reply.

"Come on, he really needs your help!"

"If he needed my help he wouldn't have sent you here to do that," he pointed to his friend, "To Nightwing, now leave, you have no business being here so just go." Batman kneeled next to Nightwing and tried to shake him awake, all he got in response was a groan of pain.

"Batman," Nightwing tried to speak, "My… head, it hurts… hurts so much do I have a…" Nightwing's voice rose a little bit, probably out of frustration, "Do I have a Fucking concussion?" He tried to lift his head but couldn't.

"Okay," I said, "So what if Mr. j doesn't need your help and I lied, but if he did would ya help him if he promised not to try an' kill ya?"

"No," was his only reply, he scooped the Bird boy in his arms to carry him to the Bat car and he didn't look back at me as he left.

I returned home to find Mr. J in the living room, feet propped up on the couch, he was talking to someone. "well, it sure is nice to see you again, Ed." Mr. J said cheerfully, raising a bottle of strong booze to his lips, gulping the alcohol down hungrily.

"My pleasure, it's always nice to see an old friend," The voice was very familiar, and I greeted it as I entered.

"How's it goin' Riddler?" I asked, cart wheeling into the living room with them both.

"Just fine, Harley, I'm doing fine." He was clad in green dress pants and a green jacket, a purple undershirt, purple tie and black question marks all over his jacket and his bowler hat. He had the cane he always carried with him, it had a question mark on the top.

"Harley," Joker interrupted, "Did you happen to find Bats?"

I lowered my head, "I did Mr. J, I kicked bird boys ass but Bats got to me and he left with Bird Boy, he wouldn't come to help you find your girl, I'm sorry Mr. J I'll do better next time I promise."

"That's alright Harley because Eddie here found her for us."

"Exactly," Riddler stood and started to pace the room dramatically, apparently in love with the sound of his own voice. "Miss Catherine Ivanov, she had her last name changed when mommy dearest married a Russian man by the name of Jakob Ivanov."

"Wow," I said, "How did you figure that out?"

"Well," he continued, "she looked oddly familiar to me one night when I saw her, so I followed her home, I left her a riddle there, the best one I could think of and then I went out to the apartment door where I slipped the first riddle under her door, I knocked and then I ran away!" okay, that didn't sound as brilliant as he intended but nobody else seemed to notice.

"What happened, did she do it?" Joker sounded curious.

"Yes, she got my riddle faster than I expected, you're lucky to have such a smart daughter, joker"

"That's my little girl, Harley," He looked over at me, "How would you feel about becoming a new Step-mommy?"

"Oh," I said, I was excited, "I've always wanted a daughter of my own," It was true; I've never had any children so why not have a step daughter?

"Excellent," Mr. J said, standing, "Show us where she lives then?"

"Of course," and Riddler gestured to the door, signaling that it was time to leave.

OOOOOOOOOO

Catherine's POV

I woke to the sound of my alarm clock, its irksome ring dragging me out of slumber. It was cold in my bedroom, and something felt out of place, I rolled over and I realized, Richard had not come home last night after he left. I sat up in bed and got up; barefoot and in my pajamas I made my way into the kitchen to find my phone. I dialed his number; all I wanted to know was if he was okay. I waited on the other line until it almost went to voicemail, which was when someone picked up.

"Catherine, this is Batman," Oh no, not him, I didn't think he liked me all that much, "He has a Concussion, I'm just taking care of him."

I raised my eyes brows and my jaw dropped, "Is he going to be okay? Is he hurt badly? He's not going to die is he? Is his head broken?" All these questions poured out of my mouth and I could tell the hero on the other line was getting frustrated.

"I'm taking care of him, I'll drop him off where you are in two hours." I calmed a bit and then closed my eyes.

"Thank you, Batman, thank you so much."

"Goodbye, Catherine," He hung up and I closed my cell phone. I stayed still for a minute or two, thinking about nothing and I was startled when my phone rang it's loud tone and vibrated in my hand.

"Papa," I answered, "how are you?"

"Just fine, I was wondering if you'd like to come over for breakfast."

"Sounds good, but I can't stay for long, I have something to do in two hours."

"That's okay, just try to hurry then." Papa sounded happy this morning

"I will I promise."

"Okay, see you in a few minutes then." He hung up and I got dressed in some jeans, a blue t-shirt and a sweater. I pulled on my black high tops and grabbed my coat as I combed my hair. I stepped out of my apartment and took the elevator downstairs. Someone else was occupying the elevator with me, he was strange, dressed in green and purple with a bowler hat, a purple mask over his eyes, it was like he was dressing up for Halloween.

"A Riddle for you," he said, "Find the object that I speak of, you may sleep below or above PS I'm coming to get you my pretty and your little dog too."

I gasped, "You're the guy that gave me the riddle that made no sense."

"Yeah that was pretty cheesy wasn't it?"

"Well," I said, "I have pepper spray," I was lying; I didn't have anything like that. I didn't even bother to learn martial arts or anything, all I knew was how to kick and kind of how to punch (to be honest I'm not sure if I'm punching right I know it's not movement in your arm it's movement in your torso).

"No you don't, you're a terrible liar."

I squeezed my eyes shut, "Are you going to rape me?"

His head swiveled around to me and he stayed perfectly still, he was silent a moment before saying in a kind of high pitched voice, "N-no, that's silly why would I do that? I'm a good person, I'm also a genius."

"You're the Riddler and I'm pretty sure you're evil."

"Riddler or not, I'm a genius, now you have to come with me, someone needs to see you."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Then I'll have to force you to come with me." The elevator doors opened and I ran out. As I left I heard him say, "DAMMIT ALL, I FORGOT MY FREAKIN' CANE AGAIN!"

I sprinted through the double doors of my apartment building and turned sharply as I made a corner of the sidewalk. I was near Papa's house now, he lived near Gotham Park and he had enough money earned to afford a house now instead of an apartment. I stopped running and caught my breath, still scared and still going in the direction of papa's home. The Riddler didn't come after me and I was glad, for a whole block I kept turning and looking behind me until I reached Papa's house.

"Catie Bug!" Papa opened the door and hugged me, letting me inside. "You're all warm Catie, are you okay?" Lines of concern creased the Russian man's face.

"I'm fine, I ran a little bit of the way here, you know, just to get a little workout."

He laughed and brushed his graying brown hair out of his face, it was weird he was still kind of young. When I was born my mom was Seventeen, when my real dad died I was four which made her twenty one, my age now. When she died I was twelve making her only twenty nine, unusual for a woman of barely thirty years to die of breast cancer but not unheard of. Papa was twenty three when he married her, thirty one when she died and now, nine years later he is forty. So he is only graying a little bit (alright I'm babbling along with doing boring math in my head I'll stop).

We sat down and had a nice breakfast (or zavtrak if you want the Russian word for breakfast) of Kasha, a hot cereal but it's very good. I told him how Richard hurt his head and he was upset by this.

"I'll make him some Kasha; he will feel better when he eats a good breakfast."

"That's very sweet of you papa but I don't know…"

"He shall have kasha for breakfast if it's the last thing he eats!" he mocked a super villains voice like he used to do as a child, trying to get me to eat things I wouldn't usually eat, like sweet things that I thought were too rich or sweet (you know, you eat it it's good but it makes your stomach want to get rid of it because you ate too much).

When I was ready to leave after an hour of being there he handed me a very large container filled with hot kasha. "Thank you papa, you are too sweet to everyone."

"I have no reason to dislike anyone now do I?"

I laughed, I told him goodbye. Once again the fear of the Riddler knowing where I lived crept up on me, sending chills down my spine with its icy fingers. I slowly made my way to my apartment building, the fear growing inside me with each step, making a cold rock out of my stomach. I wanted to throw back what I ate for breakfast out onto the ground. My breathing got heavier as I stepped into the elevator. My muscles went stiff and tightened even more each floor I went up. I finally got to my floor and I slowly came into the hallway. Turning left towards my apartment, I dared to step closer to it. I never thought I would ever have to fear my own home but now, I do now. I found myself staring at the doorknob. I reached out with my hand that wasn't holding the kasha and I took hold of the cold handle. I didn't remember leaving my door unlocked. My door swung open and I was then filled with relief, Batman helped Richard onto my couch as I walked in.

"Catherine," Richard said, he waved a little to me, "It's me, Richard! From that place?"

What was he talking about?

"Sorry about that, he's slightly concussed but he'll snap out of it soon, it's only a minor concussion, he's still somewhat with it." Batman's voice was deep and it was almost as frightening as the thought Riddler would probably come to kill me soon.

"The Riddler knows where I live." My voice was nothing but a whisper, probably because I was afraid.

"What?" Batman came closer to me.

"Riddler," I repeated, I didn't know why I was so scared, not like he was that scary, "Riddler knows where I live."

"It's okay, I took care of him, he shouldn't have been walking around in the day and neither should I." Batman turned and escaped out of my window, above the sink without breaking any of the pictures sitting on the sill, such as the one with Papa and me and the one with my real dad. When he left I got this strange feeling someone was watching me, I turned around and spotted Richard on the couch, he was staring at me, but it was more cheerful than what I was feeling, something else was watching me. I brushed it off.

"Did you eat breakfast Rich?" **(*Author's note **in case you were wondering why she never calls him Dick, it's because I like the name Richard or Rich much better and I try not to say Dick all the time because that is an insult I use sometimes so, you could probably understand why I don't use it, and it is his real name so it works. )

He started to rub his temples, probably from a headache, "No I didn't," He didn't sound like he did when I walked in, I guess he slipped in and out from the crazy concussion to pain from concussion.

"Papa made something for you," I fixed him a bowl of kasha and handed it to him. "It's hot cereal, a Russian Breakfast food, it's really good."

He took a bite and his face lit up, "Russians are culinary geniuses." I laughed and sat next to him, his head was wrapped in a tight bandage that he kept touching.

"Don't, you might hurt yourself," I grabbed his hand and I smoothed down his short black hair, as much as I could without hurting him.

"Don't look so worried, I'm fine, all it was that happened is I got in a fight with one of Joker's freaks and she did a wrestling move on me, she did it wrong and I smacked the back on my head on the concrete. I'm okay, really, I didn't even hit it that hard." He smiled at me and ate his kasha.

"The joker, He's really crazy isn't he?"

"Yeah," I think what Batman told me is that he came out first when I was… six maybe."

"I remember I was four but I still do, it was a week or so after my biological father died." Whoa, okay, I did not expect so many ideas to come flooding through my mind neither did I expect Richard to swivel his head around to see me, looking startled. I've never actually thought about the Joker until now, was it possible the death of my dad had something to do with it? No, it couldn't be. I can't be related to him, it's probably just a coincidence.


	4. Chapter 4

**Just so everyone knows, the joker was based on the Dark Night Joker, so not the original acid burned one, the crazy killer one that doesn't suffocate people, the one that makes pencils disappear xD and puts smiles on their faces because they are too serious. FOR A LATER PART IN MY STORY… I do not own the Black Blood, that was from an Anime/ Manga series created by Atsushi Okubo, Crona also belongs to him.**

JK CHPTR 4

RICHARD'S POV

"Catherine Ivanov, will you marry me?" I sighed as I spotted myself in the mirror; I didn't even think this was the right time, maybe a few more months. I want to marry her, I love her and I know she loves me, but is now really a good time? We've been dating for two years; we are very serious even to the point where I just want to tell her everything, how much I need her and how much I wanted her to be with me for the rest of my life.

I love her, I enjoy her personality and she's very beautiful. She has a light brown shade of hair that reminds me of coffee. Her eyes they remind me of… well, there isn't anything I can use to describe those striking green eyes that see everyone with friendly expressions, they have love in them, and you can see it. They are like rolling hills of green grass. Her pale skin reminds me of a china doll even though she is French (from her biological father and her mother) not Russian.

She's always nice to someone, she tries to be nice to everyone all the time, and she hates it when she hurts someone's feelings. She tends to worry about me *cough* I'm _Nightwing _not peewee. She worries about everyone. She's smart but tries not to show off, she thinks it's rude. I love how she thinks of the most logical reason before anyone else can. She tries to cheer everyone up, she's a good person, she's friendly, and she is extremely family oriented. She's a bookworm, not very athletic but she does enjoy sports. She always knows good art and writing and sees everything people do as a work of art. She believes in having fun, she believes that anyone can inspire you. Catherine is my inspiration, she's inspired me to do things and think in a way I usually would not. Oh look, I'm in my own world, babbling again.

I looked down at my ridiculous plaid pajama pants. I decided I should wait a while before asking her to marry me. I got myself dressed for work; I worked at a museum, as a museum curator (sounds boring? DEAL WITH IT, I'm in a mother fudging comic book and you aren't). Okay so I don't have such an awesome way with words so it sounds like I don't really love her that much but I do. I would kill myself if it meant that she would still live. I would give up everything I had on this earth just so I could be with her. I think I'd even give up Nightwing, but she'd never let me do that, she knows how important protecting people is to me.

I put on a dress shirt and some nice pants. Slipping on my tie, I hurried down stairs of my apartment building in New York City. I stepped outside into the parking lot, I found my car and I got in. I can't say the rest of my work day was as interesting but I can tell you I got a nasty surprise during the night, He was atop a building, beating a poor man to death with a golf club.

"Mr. Fun, you better stop right there!" I called; the middle aged man looked up at me and smiled.

"But I'm having so much fun, can't you respect that? I know you like to have fun too." I ran towards him and he casually put the head of the club to the ground as if he was going to hit a gold ball. When I got closer he tried to hit me with it. I jumped over him and landed behind him. He shook his head as if ashamed of me and he lifted the club, he was doing something with it. It was only until I moved to grab him did I realize I made a mistake.

Okay, why is it always that when I get in a fight with a villain, whether it is a man or a woman I also end up getting whacked by someone or something right where it hurts the most? I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not able to have kids when I get married, seriously this is getting ridiculous, I need to wear something or make sure that I don't get hit there, or even better, do both. I doubled over in pain, gripping the assaulted area with both hands, giving it a little more protection if he hit there again.

"So," he said in a cruel joke voice, "you _are_ a male." He laughed to himself and lifted the club. Seriously, I didn't even care; all I could think about was how much pain was pulsing through that certain part of my body that allows me to have kids. I was so concentrated on this one part that it didn't even register in my mind that Mr. Fun had been knocked sideways by something _really_ fast.

"Nightwing! What are you doing cupping your—." Flash was cut off by my middle finger. "Fine," He had Mr. Fun over his shoulder and he threw him into a dumpster, leaving him there, closing the top over him and then chaining the thing shut with some chain he had sped away to get. I tried to stand up, slouching over a bit because it hurt to stand up all the way. "Dude," Flash was laughing at me, "You need to go home now, I'm afraid you might be a woman."

"Asshole," I muttered the word through gritted teeth and he helped me off of the building, in the direction of my apartment.

OOOO

Emily Grauss' POV

Surprisingly, there wasn't that much traffic on my street so I could drive a little faster. This was late at night and I had just gotten through with one of the worst dates ever so all I was thinking about was my nice, warm, cozy comfy bed at home. Of course, they always have the streetlights on and I have my, I headlights to my green Dodge Neon (I friggin' love this car), but those didn't help one bit when this guy jumped right out in front of me and he rolled up on my car when I hit him, he scratched the windshield and he fell off after I slammed the breaks. I got out of my car and went around to the other side to see him. He was still breathing, the poor guy, he'll have to be taken to the hospital in those embarrassing clothes. A green base with purple question marks all over and that embarrassing but surprisingly cute hat, I would kind of be embarrassed if I died in those. I got a look at the poor man's face and he was quite handsome, a little older than I was maybe, in his thirties or forties, but I liked what I saw. Damn, you drive near Gotham city and all the freaks just are liked magnetized to your car, it's like they all want to die. I shook him awake and he came to for a few seconds, called me a nasty name and he passed out again. I stopped and listened. It was kind of quiet on this street except for my car engine, the man's breathing, the wind and a low mischievous and dark laughter coming from one of the alleyways.

I was still crouched beside the man I had hit when another man's voice spoke, "Maybe I could use her friends to get close to my little girl?" I didn't know who he was talking about but I then came aware of the man beside me moving. I hadn't noticed a cane he had, it had a question mark on the head and it was green and gold. He used it to club me in the head, one of the sensitive spots where you can get knocked out easily if you get hit there, like in the back; he hit me in the back of the head. I was only aware of the two men talking before I passed out. I never knew I would never see the light of day again… or my bed.

OOOOOOOO

Catherine Ivanov's POV

"Papa!" I cried on my Stepfather's shoulder once I got the news from Emily's mother. Emily had been missing for four days now and the police have investigated everywhere. They found her car, still running on the first day she was missing, in the middle of the street after someone had called the police to tell them that a car was running with nobody inside. Inside her car they found her ID, her credit cards and her wallet, and everything. She was last seen leaving a small restaurant in New York, near Gotham but nobody had seen her after that. They suspected her date for the murderer but somebody had proved him innocent- his mother. They have presumed her dead but still continue to look for her so they can find the murderer if she was murdered.

OOOO

I couldn't believe my own best friend, who I had spent nearly all my school years, from first grade until graduation was gone. They found her body, she had been suffocated. They had found her in an old apartment building that they were about to tear down. Nobody lived there anymore; they were going to clean it out. She was found in a half-open refrigerator that wasn't running, wrapped in plastic but the investigators found she wasn't suffocated by the plastic, it was something else and they were going to find out. They assumed it was the leaking gas tank they found, it was broken but they found no fingerprints other than Emily's, she didn't commit suicide, the autopsies and the crime-scene photos show she was struggling. A few, long, long weeks later we were able to have her funeral. The police had stopped searching for the killer. During her funeral, I cried the whole time, silently, tears spilled down my cheeks.

"This is wrong," her mother said, "Mothers shouldn't have to bury their children, this is wrong!" she sobbed and I hugged her, she was like a mother to me whenever I had visited when we were young. It was closed casket, so nobody had to look at her bruised and beaten face or that creepy grin that was frozen on it forever. It seemed like it lasted forever until the Pallbearers carried her casket. Emily was a completely free person, it was difficult for me to think hat she was closed up in that box and would stay there forever. It took an eternity to place the coffin in the ground.

OOOO

FOUR MONTHS AFTER…

Of course, since I am a school secretary, I know the school environment, it's like a small neighborhood except with a LOT more children and less adults and no pets except for in the science rooms. Being in this environment allows some people to make friends, sometimes unwanted friends such as the single, middle-aged math teacher or the creepy new science teacher who you are pretty sure wants to rape and dissect you, especially if you are a single school secretary that wears a size five in bottoms and C's in her shirt with hair that smells like coconuts. But I do have new friends like the seventh grade social studies teacher Miss Harl, she was from New York, she had a queen's accent. We both are extremely freaked out by Mr. Rekoj who just recently became a teacher. He supposedly got into an accident when he was a young boy so we can't blame him for the scars on his face but we can for the way he acts. Science teachers are a little less boring than most of the teachers in the school but Mr. Rekoj takes it to a whole new level. I've had reports of the children being terrified of him because of his acts of rage in school. What bothers me most is the fact children come out nearly bursting with tears but when I talk to him he is almost as sweet as honey. Personally though, he looks strangely familiar as if from an old dream I don't dream of anymore. He has green eyes and the color is like mine and that haunts me. He's also been acting inappropriately, talking about poisons and different ways to use them to get revenge. That isn't something the kids should hear and I've walked by his classroom while he was talking about it. I'm afraid I'll have to report him.

However freaky he might be, it's not as disgusting as Mr. Hilmar who sexually harasses every young female staff member, along with a few students. He has been reported several times by several teachers but the principal just won't fire him. Near the end of the school day when the kids had already left and now the teachers were I felt someone watching me but I hadn't heard them come into the office. I turned around to find Mr. Rekoj there, his brown/gray hair still messy and his tie still crooked with his shirt and pants wrinkled and stained.

I smiled, "Can I do anything for you?" Just being in this man's presence sent unpleasant chills down my spine and made my stomach churn, I wished I had brought sneakers so I could run home but I wear uncomfortable heels to work every day, they are only made for walking.

"I just wanted to say goodbye." His eyes were soft as if he were sad. They were too familiar and I tried to remember if I had seen them somewhere else. I couldn't think.

"Goodbye, Mr. Rekoj, have a good night." He turned and left a few seconds later, that sorrowful look still in his eye.

"Hey you want to go somewhere tonight?" Miss Harl, or as everyone but students called her, Quintin (unusual name for a girl but it's a nice one), walked in the office waiting for me as I logged off of the computer and finished putting student files back in a cabinet.

"That sounds good, where do you want to go to?"

"Well, I was thinking, you haven't really been able to have that much fun lately; do you want to go to a bar?"

I tipped my head back and smiled, "I don't drink, and you know that."

"Yeah," She laughed, "You should though you look like you need to have a little fun, you've been so tired, and maybe Richard would want to go."

"Richard works at night, but I'll go with you." Quintin laughed and her frizzy blonde hair shook. She reminded me of Emily except her hair was darker and she was less reckless, plus, she had totally different eye color, she had hazel instead. I missed Emily.

After we finished from that bar she wanted to go to I decided to visit Emily's grave, it was her birthday today too, and I visited at night like she would have visited mine if it were me in the casket. Quintin went home and I went to the graveyard. To my chagrin, I found someone who I'm sure doesn't like me too much digging up her grave.

"Batman! Respect for the dead you bastard!" Tears were streaming down my face and I must have caught him off guard because he jerked his head up.

"I'm doing you a favor, Catherine; I'm finding who her killer was." My jaw dropped, he said it with no emotion whatsoever.

"Drop the shovel, Batman." He didn't do as I asked, (okay told) and the fact that he ignored me over something like this, he was digging up my best friend, how could I let him? "I said drop the damn shovel! The police couldn't find her killer; I doubt you would be able to either!" Tears were flooding down my face and dropping down, dripping off my chin and getting on my clothes and making my hair stick to my cheeks.

"The killer was no ordinary man; did you see the smile on her face?" He glanced at me, "Sure, he grew out of doing that and started just plain manslaughter with knives, putting smiles on their faces with knives and killing them with bloody murder, making them suffer in pain and not in suffocation but it's the same man. We're dealing with the Joker here."

My voice turned sour, "Why the hell didn't you figure that out four months ago? Why? Are you going to tell me? Don't you think her parents deserve to know? Don't you think I and all the people who love her deserve to know? You're a stupid son-of-a-bitch!" He climbed out of the hole he was digging and grabbed me, pulling me behind a large gravestone and placing a hand over my mouth.

"Be silent, be still, someone is coming." I stopped trying to elbow him in the gut because it was hurting me more than him. A muffled sob escaped my lips as I tried to calm myself. "Sssh," it was as if he was trying to soothe and calm me down. He rubbed my arm as if he cared. Someone was coming. Batman and I were knelt down with his cape over us so they wouldn't see us, we watched over the headstone as three people engaged in a slightly crazy and angry but also funny conversation. There were two men walking and a woman doing cartwheels.

"You said she was here, Harley, you didn't lie to me did you?" That voice and the one that replied to him were all too familiar.

"No I wasn't Lyin' Mista J! Promise, she told me she was comin' here, maybe she left already, but I doubt it, if she did she would have been here for only a few minutes."

Batman whispered to me, "The Joker, Harley Quinn, and I'm guessing the Riddler by the way he's walking with the cane."

I almost threw up, Mr. Rekoj, and my own friend Quintin were villains. "T-they work at the school I work at." How coul I have been so stupid? They had such easy names to figure out!

"What?" Batman was surprised, "They work there? They must have been planning to kill you, they came looking for you tonight." We stopped as the Joker started to speak. I watched him, he had white face paint with red on his lips and black on his eyes, it was like it was smeared carelessly over his face. He was crazy, I could tell by his low, haunting voice that seemed almost too familiar to me now, different than in school, the lowness that was almost calm was familiar but I hadn't ever heard the twinge of insanity before.

"What's this?" He picked something up, "Is this a shovel? Hmm, Batsy must have been here." He twirled it and played with it while he called out into the night, "Come out Bats, I know you're here. Come on, I just want to say hello and show you a trick, have you ever seen me make a pencil disappear? I'll find you and when I do you better be smiling… or I'll make you smile." He pulled a pocket knife out of his green vest; it was a kind of dirty and wrinkled vest as were his purple shirt and pants. He had a crazy look in his bright green eyes as he watched the rusty blade reveal itself. I then saw how familiar the eyes were, they were familiar but I hadn't seen the insanity in them on me or anyone I knew, I just knew that they were exactly the color of mine, and it scared me half to death. The Joker started to sing a nursery rhyme from Mother Goose's rhymes, "Bat, bat, come under my hat and I'll give you a slice of bacon; and when I bake, I'll give you a cake if I am not mistaken." He then laughed sadistically and I shivered. Batman noticed my discomfort and held me tight.

"We are going to leave, don't worry," he whispered and we started to move but unfortunately we were noticed by Harley Quinn who has sat upon the tallest Headstone.

"Hey! Mista J, I found 'em!" She jumped off and landed in front of us and started to kick Batman in the face. He dodged and told me to run, I obeyed but I tripped on a flat headstone and fell on my face, getting a mouth full of mud.

"Dammit!" I yelled, getting up, thankfully someone else was here, so freakin' glad he loved me as much as I love him, Richard pulled me up onto my feet and called to someone.

"Flash! Get her out of here!"

In a blur, he appeared dressed in red and yellow, "Sure thing!" I was picked up off of my feet totally and I almost passed out from the speed we were going. "Stay here, alright Catherine?" He left me, overwhelmed and dizzy from sudden cease and start of mass acceleration, on the sidewalk, unable to stand. My legs felt like jelly and I felt lightheaded and woozy. I sat, hunched over, trying to breathe. I changed speeds too quickly to feel comfortable. I'm sure I was about to throw up.

After a few seconds I started to feel better and decided to stand. I had a little trouble but I managed. I stumbled over a bit, almost falling off the sidewalk, and in return; the bat car nearly ran over me.

"Asshole! Watch where you drive this damn death trap!" Okay so when I'm mad I tend to cuss, it's a bad habit, I hope Richard doesn't think less of me. Batman came out from behind me and was about to go into his car, "Wait a second! Where the hell do you think you're going without an explanation?"

He lifted his gaze from the sleek black vehicle to my green eyes, "What type of explanation do you need?"

"I mean why were you digging up my grave and why was the Joker looking for me? The Joker, Batman! Why was the most dangerous sociopath you have ever fought looking for me of all people? What have I done to lure that creep to me? Does it have something to do with you? Maybe I hang around you too much; yeah I think that's it—."

"Catie," Richard came to the side of me and looked at Batman, "They got away but Catherine is safe for now," He placed a hand on my shoulder and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. My best friend's grave, dug up by some tight wearing bastard!

"I dug up her grave," The Bat's voice was deep and there were no traces of emotion, "Because I needed to see something, I needed to see the grin on her face."

"You could have asked for the autopsy photos," my own voice was barely a whisper, "But instead you just dug up her grave, you are a sick, sick man." A hot stream of frustrated tears burned my cheeks.

"I'll take her home, Batman," Richard led me down the street, someone in red and yellow right in front of us. "Hey Flash, what are you still doing here, you don't have to stay you know."

"What?" Flash answered, "Your buddy Flash can't come to visit? I think I should, I saved your balls from falling off four months ago, you owe me because you got a girlfriend and she looks like the child-loving type, she works in a school right?"

He was talking about me like I wasn't there? Richard was about to say something and I answered, "Yes she works in a school and she's right here so you can ask me yourself."

"Snappy," Flash was walking backwards now, facing us, "She's a keeper, you know I might marry her myself if you don't."

"Shut up!" Richard flipped him off and Flash spun around, walking normally. He turned his head toward me, "Catie, are you alright? Can I do anything for you?"

My boyfriend was so sweet, I nodded, "Yes you can take me to a bar, I want to get mad drunk, or no, don't take me to a bar, I have a few Vodka bottles in my house that I took from my dad, let's go." The walk took forever but I didn't care, we got to my house I went inside, Flash and Richard left to go get changed into civilian clothing. They came back around fifteen minutes later and I have four Vodka bottles on the counter, a fifth in my hand with its alcoholic contents running down my throat.

"Woah," Flash, looked kind of cute when I saw his face but I'm an easy drunk since I haven't had a glass of wine since I was… okay I've never had any even though I'm twenty-two and Richard is twenty-four, over the drinking age so I wouldn't be surprised if he held up longer than me. Wally West, Flash's real name, he had flaming red hair and brown eyes. He was grinning.

Wally leaned over to Richard, "Keeper," he whispered and then excused himself, leaving my apartment.

"I want to get mad drunk," I told my boyfriend and then lifted the bottle to my lips but before I started drinking, "And I want you to get drunk with me so you can feel the pain with me in the morning, my friend Emily always told me hangovers suck ass and I need to feel what that feel like."

He didn't refuse; he took another bottle and started chugging it. After a while we got loopy but we were still aware of things. We kept drinking and laughing until we didn't know what was going on anymore.

OOOO

Richard's POV

I woke up in the morning in the bedroom with a raging headache. This was awkward, the blankets were all in random places. I have a feeling we did bad things last night… Damnit why does every chapter when I go to her house in this fanfiction have to end with me waking up in the morning realizing I just did it the night before? Gosh I'm such a perv.

OOOO

Catherine's POV

I really shouldn't have gotten drunk last night… Emily was wrong this doesn't suck ass it sucks Rhino Balls.

My cell phone rang, the loud ring making my head throb more. I picked it up, "What?"

"Catherine, Joker knows where you live if Riddler does, you have to find another place to live."

"Fuck off I have a hangover."

"Babe, who is it?" Richard's voice was tired.

I handed the phone to him, "It's Batman."

I rolled over and let Richard talk to him, I ignored them I was too crappy feeling to listen. He closed my cell phone and turned over, his hand rubbing my arm. "Move in with me."

"What?"

"You're too far away all the time and I love you, please, it's for you protection and I was going to ask you to move in sometime so I might as well now, please, move in with me, I love you and I think this would be a better way for us to be together and see each other all the time.

"I'll start packing after I make coffee, and then we need to go to my dad's house to tell him I'm leaving Gotham."

"Okay, Love you."

I don't usually drink coffee black but I did this morning.

**AND NOW FOR A RANDOM SONG FROM THE AUTHOR**

_**The bass, the rock**__**  
><strong>__**The mic, the treble**__**  
><strong>__**I like my coffee black**__**  
><strong>__**Just like my metal**__****_

_**The bass, the rock**__**  
><strong>__**The mic, the treble**__**  
><strong>__**I like my coffee black**__**  
><strong>__**Just like my metal**__****_

_**I can't wait for you to knock me up**__**  
><strong>__**In a minute, minute**__**  
><strong>__**In a fuckin' minute**__****_

_**I can't wait for you to knock me up**__**  
><strong>__**In a minute, minute**__**  
><strong>__**In a second**__****_

_**I can't wait for you to shut me up**__**  
><strong>__**And make me feel like bad ass**__**  
><strong>__**I can't wait for you to shut me up**__**  
><strong>__**Shut it up**_

**LYRICS BY MIND SELF INDULGENCE **

**SONG: SHUT ME UP**


End file.
